education, outcomes assessment plans for each program at the university. We have an Office of Research & Assessment that supports the faculty in collecting the data. The faculty develop the assessment plans and our Office of Research and Assessment collect the data and provide the faculty with the information which they then review and use in continuous program improvement. That’s one of the new and important processes we’ve developed. We also have a very robust program development process where we engage not only our faculty, but also professional product managers and instructional designers in the development of a program.

A-HEC: What are some of the other characteristics that you believe lead to successful online learning?

PP: We find there are a number of characteristics that contribute to student success. One of them, and a very important one, is that they have set the right expectations. They need to understand and expect the right things when they come into our environment. Sometimes, adult learners get confused in thinking that distance education, and the flexibility that it brings with it, also means that it’s easier. We actually think that learning from a distance is harder because students have to rely more on their writing and critical thinking skills and they have to hone those skills because the whole dynamic of an online environment is through the written word. Particularly at the graduate level, I think this is more challenging to students.

A-HEC: So when a potential student applies to Walden, do you help them set those expectations?

PP: What I can tell you is that we have a large staff of trained enrollment advisors who lead students through a decision-making process and help them set the right expectations. Setting the expectations up front is important, but once they get into our environment, it’s extremely important that they have a consistent experience. It’s one thing when they are on a campus and they go from classroom to classroom and they all have blackboards and podiums. We try to create that same sense of consistency at Walden by providing templates for all of our virtual classrooms so that when students come into those classrooms, they are going to receive the same kind of learning environment from course to course. We work with our faculty to provide that consistent environment. We have guidelines around a variety of different kinds of processes so that the students will know what to expect and the faculty will provide that consistently.

A-HEC: Please walk us through what a typical Walden class would be like. Do they meet at the same time? Is there a chat room environment provided?

PP: A lot of it involves how we use the learning platform. e-College is the learning platform we use. All the buttons are in the same place and if you click on the weekly assignments, they all come up identically. If there is going to be a chat as part of the classroom exercise, students access it in the same way from course to course. The faculty all use the same introductions and put their syllabi in the same place. Online discussions are held on a weekly basis and even requirements around participation in those discussions are consistent.

Copyright 2006 Alliance for Higher Education Competitiveness.